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Free tool · Open Value · licence with Software Assurance · three-year agreement, paid once a year
What a Visual Studio Professional or Enterprise subscription costs under an Open Value agreement — three annual payments, the licence yours at the end — against a monthly cloud subscription and a plain perpetual licence. Per developer, per month, over three, five and six years. Then request the agreement without leaving the page.
Step 1 of 3 · Your team
Prices per developer per year
Open Value figures are Microsoft’s list prices for the euro area and for the UK (EUR and GBP as published, other currencies converted from EUR); the cloud and perpetual figures are Microsoft’s published retail prices. The quote for your country confirms the numbers; you can type your own here and everything recalculates.
Enterprise has no perpetual-only option; Test Professional has neither a monthly nor a perpetual-only option. Standard subscriptions cannot be bought through CSP: we supply them under Open Value, from five licences; the monthly cloud subscription we supply through CSP. Enterprise Agreements need a Microsoft-authorised Licensing Solution Partner, which we are not. We sell to legal entities only; individuals and companies below five licences buy the Standard subscription directly from the Microsoft Store.
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What you are buying
Four names for the parts of one purchase. Once they are clear, the price is easy to read.
A per-developer subscription that includes the Visual Studio IDE plus a catalogue of Microsoft software for development and testing — Windows, Windows Server, SQL Server, Office and more — that you may install on as many dev/test machines as you need without buying those products. Also Azure DevOps, GitHub Enterprise, a monthly Azure credit ($50 Professional, $150 Enterprise), support incidents and training. MSDN was the old name; the benefits are the same idea.
The subscription part of the licence: as long as SA is active you get every new version of Visual Studio, the dev/test software catalogue, the Azure credit and the rest. Let SA lapse and you keep the Visual Studio version you had — it is a perpetual licence — but the subscription benefits stop. SA is also what allows the price to be spread over three years.
Microsoft’s volume-licensing agreement for organisations of five or more users, and the one we are authorised to sell. (Enterprise Agreements, for 500 users and up, are sold only by Microsoft-authorised Licensing Solution Partners; we are not one.) Three-year term. The licence with SA is paid in three equal annual instalments — Microsoft’s own instalment plan, no interest. Licences can be added at any time during the term, pro-rated to the same end date. At the end of the three years the licences are fully paid and perpetual. We sign the agreement with you as the reseller; Microsoft issues the licences in your name on the Volume Licensing Service Center.
Two choices. Renew SA (another three-year Open Value renewal, or one year) and keep new versions, the dev/test catalogue and the Azure credit — at the renewal price, which is lower than the first-year price because you are no longer buying the licence. Or stop: you own the last version released while SA was active, for ever, but the subscription benefits end and the Azure credit stops. Renewal must be ordered before the agreement expires; after a lapse it is a new purchase at the first-year price.
Software Assurance, included by default
Every Visual Studio subscription bought under Open Value is “licence with Software Assurance” — the two are not sold apart. The licence is the editor; Software Assurance is everything that makes it a subscription. The full product name on the agreement reads Visual Studio Professional Subscription with MSDN (or Enterprise), which is why people still say MSDN.
The three-year price is split into three equal annual instalments: one on signing, one on each anniversary. No interest, no deposit. Without Software Assurance a licence is paid in full up front.
Visual Studio 2026 today, the next version the day it ships, and every version released while the agreement runs. Without SA you keep the version you bought and pay again for the next.
Windows Server, SQL Server, SharePoint, Exchange, Dynamics, Windows and Office, installable on as many development and test machines as you need, for every subscriber. Not for production.
$50 a month of Azure per Professional subscriber, $150 per Enterprise, for dev/test; plus discounted Azure rates on dev/test subscriptions. The credit alone is worth most of the renewal price.
Azure DevOps (Basic, or Basic plus Test Plans on Enterprise), GitHub Enterprise, two or four technical support incidents a year, Pluralsight and Cloud Academy training for the first year, an M365 E5 developer sandbox.
After the third payment the licence is fully paid and yours for ever, for the last version released while SA was active. Renew SA to keep the benefits above; stop and you keep the editor.
Software Assurance itself has no separate price on the quote: it is inside the annual instalment. What you see on the invoice is one line per subscriber per year. Software Assurance in the glossary →
What happens when the agreement ends
The part people misread most, so it is stated exactly.
Under Open Value the Visual Studio licence and Software Assurance cannot be split into separate agreements or bought apart. What you sign is one three-year agreement for the licence with Software Assurance, paid in three annual instalments. There is no “licence now, SA later”.
After the third payment the Visual Studio licence is fully paid off. It is yours, permanently, for the last version released while the agreement was running. Nothing more is owed for it, ever, and it does not expire.
Software Assurance runs for the term of the agreement and stops with it. From that day: no new Visual Studio versions, no dev/test software catalogue (the MSDN part), no Azure credit, no support incidents. You keep using the version you own; you stop receiving anything new.
To continue Software Assurance — above all the right to every new Visual Studio version at no extra cost, which is the main thing SA buys during the term — and to keep the MSDN subscription benefits, you sign a new Open Value agreement for Software Assurance renewal before the current one expires. It is cheaper than the first, because the licence itself is not bought again. Miss the expiry, and continuing later means buying licence with SA from scratch.
We send the renewal options ninety days before the end date, with the SA-only price for your country. The calculator’s five- and six-year columns show both routes — renew, or keep the licence and stop ↑
Three ways to own it
The calculator prices all three. This is how to read the comparison.
Three annual payments, licence yours at the end, full benefits throughout. The cheapest way to hold Visual Studio for staff who will still be there in three years, and the only route that ends with an asset.
Pay per month, cancel any month, no perpetual rights and a reduced benefit set (no dev/test software catalogue). Right for contractors, interns and a six-month project. Over three years it costs more than Open Value and you own nothing at the end.
Professional only. One payment for that version, no new versions, no dev/test rights, no Azure credit, no Azure DevOps. Cheapest if all you want is the IDE for a long time and nothing else; expensive the moment you need SQL Server for a test lab.
Open Value price list
Microsoft’s Open Value list prices for the euro area and the UK, per subscriber per year. L+SA is the annual payment on a new three-year agreement (paid three times); SA renewal is the annual payment on the follow-on agreement once the licence is owned. Our price to you is confirmed on the quote.
| Subscription | Part, L+SA | L+SA / year EUR | L+SA / year GBP | Part, SA renewal | SA / year EUR | SA / year GBP | Azure credit / month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visual Studio Professional Subscription with MSDN | 77D-00041 | EUR 574 | GBP 514 | 77D-00043 | EUR 503 | GBP 450 | $50 |
| Visual Studio Enterprise Subscription with MSDN | MX3-00131 | EUR 3,772 | GBP 3,374 | MX3-00133 | EUR 1,755 | GBP 1,570 | $150 |
| Visual Studio Test Professional Subscription with MSDN | L5D-00092 | EUR 1,086 | GBP 971 | L5D-00094 | EUR 506 | GBP 452 | $50 |
| MSDN Platforms Subscription | 3VU-00004 | EUR 1,294 | GBP 1,157 | 3VU-00006 | EUR 1,294 | GBP 1,157 | $100 |
Three-year totals at list: Professional EUR 1,722 / GBP 1,542; Enterprise EUR 11,316 / GBP 10,122; Test Professional EUR 3,258 / GBP 2,913; MSDN Platforms EUR 3,882 / GBP 3,471 — then the SA renewal figure each year to keep the benefits. Microsoft’s own retail prices for the same subscriptions are $1,199 / $799 (Professional), $5,999 / $2,569 (Enterprise) and $2,169 / $899 (Test Professional) first year / renewal.
Questions
Under Open Value, Visual Studio Professional Subscription with MSDN (part 77D-00041) is EUR 574 per subscriber per year at Open Value list price in the euro area, GBP 514 in the UK — about EUR 48 or GBP 43 a month — paid once a year for three years, Software Assurance included. The Software Assurance renewal afterwards (part 77D-00043) is EUR 503 a year. For comparison, Microsoft’s retail price for the same subscription is $1,199 in the first year and $799 to renew. Our price to you is confirmed on the quote.
Under Open Value, Visual Studio Enterprise Subscription with MSDN (part MX3-00131) is EUR 3,772 per subscriber per year in the euro area and GBP 3,374 in the UK, paid once a year for three years; the Software Assurance renewal (MX3-00133) is EUR 1,755 or GBP 1,570 a year. Microsoft’s retail price is $5,999 in the first year and $2,569 to renew. What Enterprise adds: IntelliTrace, Live Unit Testing, Test Plans, Microsoft 365 Apps for production use, $150 of Azure credit a month. Most teams are on Professional.
Not the Standard subscription: Microsoft does not offer it through Cloud Solution Provider, direct or indirect. We supply it under Open Value (three-year agreement, from five licences), and the monthly cloud subscription (editor and Azure DevOps only) through CSP. Enterprise Agreements are sold only by Microsoft-authorised Licensing Solution Partners, which we are not; organisations of 500 or more that want an EA ask Microsoft for an LSP. The Microsoft Store is Microsoft’s own retail channel for individuals and for companies below five licences; we cannot invoice through it. We sell to legal entities only.
Test Professional (part L5D-00092, EUR 1,086 a year under Open Value; SA renewal 506) is for testers who do not write code: test case management, Azure Test Plans and the dev/test software catalogue, without the full IDE. MSDN Platforms (part 3VU-00004, EUR 1,294 a year; renewal 1,294) is the dev/test software catalogue and a $100 monthly Azure credit with no Visual Studio at all — for IT professionals, architects and operations staff who build test environments but do not develop.
Yes. Microsoft renamed MSDN subscriptions to Visual Studio subscriptions in 2016. The benefit set is the same idea: the IDE, dev/test software, Azure credit, DevOps and support.
The subscription component of the licence. While active: new versions, the dev/test software catalogue, Azure credit and the other benefits, plus the right to spread payment over three years under Open Value. When it lapses: you keep the last version as a perpetual licence; the benefits stop.
Yes. Under Open Value the licence and Software Assurance are one purchase that cannot be split; after the third annual payment the licence is fully paid off and is your property, for the last version released during the term, with nothing more to pay for it. Software Assurance, however, expires with the agreement. To keep receiving new Visual Studio versions and the MSDN subscription benefits you sign a new Open Value agreement for Software Assurance renewal before the old one ends; it is cheaper than the first because the licence is not bought again.
Three equal annual payments over a three-year term, invoiced by us on signing and on each anniversary, in your currency from the entity for your country. Licences added mid-term are pro-rated to the same end date so everything renews together.
No. Windows, SQL Server and the rest of the subscription catalogue are licensed for development and testing only. The one exception is Microsoft 365 Apps in Visual Studio Enterprise, which may be used in production by the subscriber.
In cash it is close: about $1,620 over three years for the cloud subscription against EUR 1,722 under Open Value for Professional. What Open Value buys for the difference: the dev/test software catalogue (Windows Server, SQL Server and the rest for test environments, which the cloud subscription does not include), $50 a month of Azure credit (worth $600 a year, most of the renewal price), and a perpetual licence at the end. For permanent developers who run test environments, Open Value; for a contractor on a short project, the cloud subscription.
Licensing servers for the dev/test lab in production too? Windows Server calculator → · SQL Server calculator →
Step 3 of 3 · Request the Open Value agreement
The configuration above is attached. You get back the distributor’s Open Value price for your country, the three-year payment schedule, and the agreement ready to sign, within two business days. Nothing is signed or billed until you approve it.
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List prices are Microsoft’s public prices; the Open Value quote for your country replaces them. Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Australia and Canada are quoted in USD, AUD or CAD by the entity for the region. Privacy.